BBCF/Movement

Contents

Hold either left or right to walk forward/backward. This is the slowest form of movement, but also presents the least risk.

Run

To run forward, press in quick succession when on the ground and keep holding to continue running forward. When you stop running your character will slide to a halt. You can not block during this sliding animation but you can cancel the slide into attacks, jumps, and Barrier Defense.

Tager can not run or Forward Step (poor Tager).

Forward Step

Some characters do not run forward: instead they perform a quick step forward that goes a preset distance. Some characters can cancel this step into attacks, jumps, etc. Examples of this include Hazama, Carl, and Azrael.

Dash/Run Brake

Because runs and dashes normally have a vulnerable sliding animation at the end, players typically cancel the run into Barrier Guard briefly, then continue doing whatever they wanted to do. This is a very powerful technique to maintain a specific range vs the opponent, and you should be in the habit of doing it every time you want to stop running.

Backstep

To perform a backstep, press quickly. All backsteps (except Hakumen's) have some invincibility at the start, so they are useful for escaping enemy attacks if timed correctly. With the exception of Hakumen, backsteps can not be canceled into anything; you must wait for the entire backstep to finish before performing any further action. This means that while backsteps can evade attacks, they can be baited if the opponent performs a slow, long-reaching attack, or if the opponent anticipates the backstep and moves forward to hit you out of the backstep's recovery.

As such backsteps are often used to avoid mixup on wakeup or to escape opponent's pressure.

Each character's backstep is different and is listed in the system data.

Unlike most other 2D fighting games, characters are vulnerable when they are lying on the ground. However, you can roll in different directions to escape an approaching opponent. You will automatically perform a Quick Tech after 68 frames if no action is taken.

Roll Options When Knocked Down

Forward Roll

+ A/B/C

1~3F Fully invincible

4~17F Throw invincible, if hit you will be in the air

18~30F Guard possible, if hit will be in crouching position

1~10F can pass through opponent

Back Roll

+ A/B/C

1~10F Fully invincible

11~17F Throw invincible, if hit you will be in the air

18~30F Guard possible, if hit will be in crouching position

1~10F can pass through the opponent

Quick Tech

+ A/B/C

1~13F Throw invincible, if hit you will be in the air

14~19F Throw invincible, guard possible, cancellable into any grounded attack, if hit will be in standing position

Will automatically Quick Tech after laying on the ground for 68 frames

Neutral Tech

no direction + A/B/C

1~32F Fully invincible

Emergency Tech

Unlike the other tech options, a Neutral tech can also be performed when touching the floor after being hit. This is called an Emergency Tech

You can delay when you Emergency Tech in order to throw off the opponent's attack timing, but this carries some risk; 8F after you touch the ground, you can not Emergency Tech or Roll for 18 frames. The opponent can hit you during this time and continue the combo, though the HUD will show that the combo was invalid (since you could have escaped earlier). This is used in many attack patterns to "force" the opponent to emergency tech or else they will eat a combo!

The following time table shows a character's options and status during a knockdown.

Hard Knockdown

Certain moves like Ragna's 6B do a hard knockdown, which prevents emergency teching. Therefore using such a move, and then hitting the character again before they can move again is a legitimate combo and the HUD will not turn blue.

Crumple Recovery

Some attacks place the opponent in a crumple state such as Jin's Sekkajin. The crumple state is vulnerable to attacks and after a period of time you will fall to the ground if you do not recover. To recover from crumple, press A/B/C. Crumple recovery takes 8 frames.

If you are attacked during the recovery, you will be automatically block the attack high/low as appropriate. However, if you are thrown during frames 6-8 of recovery, you will be considered out of hitstun (for the purpose of differentiating between green and purple throws). If you are thrown by a command throw during frames 6-8, it will be inescapable, so watch out!

Air movement in BlazBlue (and most Arc System Works titles) work on a either/or system - you can either double jump or air dash, but not both. Doing either is called using an air option, and most characters only have one air option. Air options are regained once the character touches the ground.

Some characters have additional movement options like Taokaka, and thus can mix and match double jumps and air dashes (ex: double jump > air dash or air dash > air dash). However it's best to think of this on a case-by-case basis, as these characters are rare and often have other restrictions. For example, Bang can air dash twice in the air, but not triple jump, while Taokaka doesn't have this restriction.

Jump/Double Jump

Press any of the upward directions to jump. All characters except Tager can also perform a double jump by jumping again while midair. Ground jumps have some startup where you are still considered on the ground, are invincible to throws, can not block, and can cancel the jump startup into ground Special Attacks.

Keep in mind momentum is conserved: a running will move much farther than simply at neutral.

Super Jump

To Super Jump, start from , then quickly press any downward direction, then any upward direction. Super Jumps have startup just like normal jumps. They are used to create vertical distance between you and your opponent as well as to run away; super jump over the opponent, then air dash away! Note that unlike Guilty Gear or Persona 4 Arena, you CAN double jump after a super jump.

Air Dash Forward/Backward

While airborne, press to perform an air dash forward, and to perform an air dash backward. This is used to cover large distances quickly, but is vulnerable during startup.

A common tactic is to perform an air dash immediately after jumping in order to cover distance quickly and avoid ground attacks; in fact this tactic is so common that it has its own name: Instant Air Dash (IAD). IADs can be performed by pressing for a forward air dash or for a backward air dash. The idea is that the jump includes a directional input that can also count as an input for the air dash command.

Air Ukemi (aka Air Tech)

Hold a button and pick a direction with , , or

After getting hit in the air, hold the button down while you are getting hit in the air and you will Air Ukemi as soon as possible. By holding left, right, or no direction at all, you can choose the direction you recover.

Air Ukemi takes 15 frames and you are fully invincible the entire time.

If you touch the ground before you air ukemi, you can perform an Emergency Tech.

Usually, you will want to ukemi immediately when possible, but opponents can take advantage of this behavior by setting up a mixup that you will be forced to block when you ukemi. A common counter to this tactic is to delay your ukemi in order to throw off the opponent's mixup timing, but this carries some risk; the opponent can simply hit you before you ukemi and continue to combo you!

Unlike other games from Arc System Works, you do not normally regain your air option after an air ukemi! Keep that in mind, as once a character has used up their double jump/ air dash, they need to touch the ground before they can use those options again. This is useful for punishing the opponent once the situation arises; their movement is much more restricted and it's much easier to position yourself to punish the opponent.

Landing Recovery

Some airborne moves have landing recovery like Jin's air Hishouken. This is straightforward; upon landing you will enter a landing animation where you are completely vulnerable

When landing from a jump, there is still a unique 5F landing recovery that disables certain actions for limited amounts of time.

1F after landing you can cancel into all actions except forward/backward walk, all jumps, and backdash

Most normal attacks can be canceled into specials, Crush Triggers, and super attacks. This is generally used to create combo, but can have other applications as well.

Jump Cancel

Some normal attacks can be canceled into jump and super jump. This is used in combos as well as block strings and mixup. Some attacks can only be jump canceled on hit.

Rapid Cancel

Press A+B+C to cancel any attack that does not whiff (in other words, any attack that touches the opponent) to cancel the attack and bring yourself back into a neutral state. These cancels are very powerful for making new frame traps, new combos, or making your attacks safe. More detailed information can be found here.

Dash Cancel

Some attacks can be canceled into a forward run that goes a preset distance, such as Jin's 5D or Ragna's 22C. This forward run cannot be canceled into anything else. Some attacks can also be backdash canceled like Kagura's 5D~A

Overdrive Cancel

Almost any normal attack that can be canceled into a Special attack can also be Overdrive Cancelled, but at the cost of reducing Overdrive duration by half. This is a very costly, but useful way to extend combos or make attacks safe. Make it count!

Revolver Action

Normal attacks can be canceled into other normal attacks and jump. Each character has different rules as to which normals can cancel into what other actions (some attacks can't be canceled at all!). This is analogous to Guilty Gear's Gatling or Persona 4 Arena's P Combo System. The general flow is that attacks cancel from A > B > C > D. You can find your character's exact rules in the Frame Data section.

Clash

Clashes happen when two opposing hitboxes touch each other but neither hitbox also touches a hurtbox of the other player. During a clash each character can cancel the attack into any other attack at no cost (but not a jump, dash, block, etc.), but you must be fast to react to it. Thus when clashes happen either the players are unable to react to it because it is unexpected, or they understand how the attacks interact well enough to intentionally cause a clash to cancel out the opponent's attack, then retaliate with their own!

When you hold down an attack button, the game repeats the button input every frame for as long as the button is held down for up to 3 frames (speculated). This means that difficult links are easier to do by holding the button a little earlier than usual.

The technique is useful for punishing opponent's blocked attacks as quickly as possible.

Similarly, the same principle can be applied to runs/backsteps/airdashes!

If you input a run within 3F (speculated) of the end of an attack's recovery, then regardless of any directional inputs after that, you will begin dashing as soon as recovery ends. This can also be done any time while your character can not move, such as during blockstun, on wakeup, etc.

This technique is especially useful for runs because it gives your attacks more range for free; by buffering both an attack and a run, you will attack as soon as possible while sliding forward! This technique is useful for linking together combos as well as punishing things after blocking. In fact, some combos rely on this property to link a running 5A/B/C/D or else the combo wouldn't work.

One caveat to this is that advanced input for runs will not work when you are in a crouching state, such as after crouching attacks. Advanced inputs for buttons inputs will still work.

During an opponent's super flash/freeze (when they perform a super attack, the screen freezes briefly), you can input commands and they will be executed immediately after the super flash ends. This means that provided you are not in the middle of an attack, it is trivially easy to react to an opponent's super attacks with an attack of your own.

This buffer is often used to execute an invincible attack (such as an Overdrive, or your own super) that will avoid the opponent's attack! This is because supers usually have a bit of startup even AFTER the super flash. If you can have an invincible attack out before the opponent's attack becomes active, then you can avoid the attack!

Normally, every character can cancel the first few frames of startup of normal attacks into a Barrier Guard. If you are in those first few frames during super flash, then you can cancel your normal into Barrier Guard to save yourself!

Meaning an attack with startup 5+5 has 5 frames of startup, then the super flash, then hits the opponent after 5 more frames for a total of 10 frames of startup.

Supers With No Startup After Super Flash

... unless they're active immediately after the super flash!

Some supers are special: they have no additional startup after the super flash. This means that super flash buffer is useless against these supers because the attack will already be active immediately following the super freeze - you can think of the superflash as just a formality, the super has already become active.

Tager's Super Throw (Genesic Emerald Tager Buster) is a prime example of this; you must already have some way to avoid Tager's Super Throw BEFORE the super flash or else it will be too late.